New Delhi, February 28:Mercury stayed below normallevels in most parts of the northern region today, even as Himachal Pradesh continued to reel under cold wave with high altitude areas receiving another spell of snowfall.
Delhiites enjoyed a pleasant, sunny morning as temperatures remained below normal on the last day of February. The minimum was recorded at 10.5 degree Celsius, which was a degree below normal and marginally above yesterday’s 10.1 deg C.
Minimum temperatures continued to hover a few notches below normal in Punjab and Haryana.
In Haryana, Karnal settled a low of 6.4 deg C, down five notches, while Hisar recorded a minimum of 7.5 deg C, down four degrees. Rohtak, Gurgaon and Ambala recorded respective minimums of 8.6, 9.5 and 9.9 deg C.
In Punjab, Patiala experienced the chill at 7.7 deg C, down three notches, while the low at Ludhiana was 9.5. Amritsar recorded a low of 7.5 deg C. The minimum at Chandigarh settled at 9 deg C, one below normal.
The piercing cold wave sweeping mid and higher hills of Himachal Pradesh continued unabated as night temperatures remained two to four degrees below normal.
While the state capital, Shimla, and Bhuntar recorded minimum temperatures of 3.4 deg C each, Solan was colder with a low of 3 deg C. Sundernagar and Dharamsala recorded a low of 4.7 degree, four degrees below normal, while Palampur, Mandi and Una settled at 4, 6.2 and 6.5 deg C respectively.
The higher reaches in tribal areas had another spell of mild snowfall, and Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti recorded a low of minus 9 deg C, two degrees below normal.
Meanwhile, Meteorological officials predicted that heavy snowfall and rains are likely in Kashmir Valley over the next four days.
Another “westerly weather system” has developed over the Valley which will lead to moderate to heavy snowfall, an official said.
——————PTI———————-